Amalgamator



Dec. 23, 1941.

P. R. PHILBRICK AMALGAMATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 8, 1940ATTORNEYS Dec. 23, 1941. P. R. PHILBRICKY AMALGAMATOR Filed April 8,1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ffiqql XR flhllbfl k f jg ATTORNEYSPatented Dec. 23, 1941 UNETED ST OFFICE 11 Claims.

My present invention relates to the general class of equipment used inthe recovery of precious metals, and more particularly to anamalgamator.

My device consists essentially of a closed chamber of relatively smallsize into which the concentrated pulp, bearing precious metals, isintroduced, caused to be broken up, and passed through a mercury bath inthe lower portion of my chamber. Then, after the metal has been removed,the pulp and water are carried away for disposition so that theoperation can be continuous for long periods. In the recovery ofprecious heavy metals, the principal one of which is gold, many deviceshave been created for the purpose of bringing the gold-bearing pulp, orgold-bearing sand, into intimate contact with mercury which, through itsafiinity for gold and certain other precious metals, is considered themost practical means for recovery.

In the majority of devices observed, however, large, bulky pieces ofequipment are designed to break up the pulp into relatively small bodiesso that the free gold can be brought into contact with mercury, to theend that the natural aifinity of mercury for gold can be used to retainthe gold while the waste materials are passed out of the machines. In mypresent equipment I have overcome the many deficiencies of the largebulky equipment formerly used and have provided equipment relativelysmall in size, yet capable of handling large quantities of material in acontinuous operation. To make my equipment readily available wheretransportation is a problem, or where first cost is a matter of realconsideration, I have arranged my equipment to operate.

as a syphon. Once the cycle of operation is started, by any of the knownmeans of starting syphon flow, the operation will be continuous, notrequiring power to move the materials. It has further been found. that aunit, even if it is only twelve inches in diameter, can be expected tohandle approximately one and one-half yards of material each hour. ThusI provide a very compact, yet efficient, piece of equipment Which can bemade at a relatively low cost, and which requires no attention in itsoperation. This surmounts one of the important objections to so much ofthe more complicated equipment which requires men in constantattendance.

Another object of this invention has been the provision of anamalgamator unit having selfcontained means for breaking up the pulp inits passage to the mercury body for treatment.

A further object of my invention has been to 55 provide an amalgamatoreasily disassembled for i cleaning or for the replenishment of themercury body, and equally easily reassembled.

Still another object performed by the provision of an amalgamator,according to my disclosure, has been that of a device capable ofoperating upon certain ore-bearing pulps which do not need to be brokenup by merely reversing the usual flow of the material through the unit.

. Other and more specific objects will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with 'the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, in section, showing a preferred form of myrecovery device.

Figure 2 is a side elevation illustrating two of the baffle finsemployed inside my recovery chamher to provide means for comminuting anddividing the incoming materials so that no large mass of the same willpass through the mercury at any given point.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a preferred form of my equipment.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the inner distributing head of mydevice.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 'i--'! of Figure1.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional the line 8-8 of Figure 1.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary, side-elevation, partview taken along ly insection, showing the collector head for my device, illustrating how itis formed with a plurality of openings which cause suction at aplurality of points, so as to assist in promoting an evenly distributedflow of material through my equipment.

Figure 10 is a perspective view showing the deflecting .bafiies as theyare assembled in my machine, but with all other parts removed therefrom.

Figure 11 is a modified form of my device illustrating a secondary useof my equipment.

Referring to the drawings throughout which like reference charactersindicate like parts I2 designates the main body, or drum, of my recoverychamber. This I prefer to form with cylindrical walls and a bottomportion M that is.

dished, or saucer-like, in form. Any suitable form of supportingmeans'may be used such as the legged standard I5. At its upper end Iprovide a covermember l6 which is secured to body l2 with an air tightjoint such as the bolt-held packing joint at I8. Passing through thecenter of cover I2 is the suction discharge pipe 20. Normally, it isdesirable to have this member downwardly adjustable so that a snugengagement is made with the interior portions of the device. In order toobtain an air-tight joint at this point I provide the packing gland 2|.Suitable packing may be used at 22. A vent is provided, preferablyequipped with a valve 24 so that in use the amount of air permittedwithin my chamber may be adjusted as desired. Secured to pipe 26, Iprovide, preferably, an angled L 26 to which are in turn secured pipes28 and 30; the latter two being connected by a 45 L 31. To the lower endof pipe 30, which should extend below the bottom of my recovery chamber,I provide means for attaching a flexible pipe or hose 32 so that therate of flow through my recovery device can be controlled easily byregulating the: height of the ultimate discharge.

Passing through the center of the bottom portion 14 of my recoverychamber, I provide the underfeed supply pipe 34. This pipe, like pipe20, is provided with a packing gland 36 so that suitable packing 31 maybe employed to form an air and water tight joint at this point. Pipe 34may be enlarged in size over supply pipe 55 to compensate for theobstruction caused by the downwardly extending fin portions 44 if ajetting effect is not desired.

The pipe 34 is led upwardly to a point slightly above the middle of mychamber, and around it are disposed a bafiie composed of a plurality ofradial fins 40. These fins are cut away at 42 so as to form a snug fitover the pipe and the depending tongue portion 44 is adapted to fitinside the pipe to position baiiles. The plurality tongue portions 44placed within the discharge end of pipe 34 constitute a comminutorelement having radial cutting edges operable on the inflowing pulp.masses. The outer edges of fins are slightly tapering after the showingparticularly of Figures 1 and 2. The lower ends of the fins are each cutwith a slot 45 which leaves the fin extension portions 46. The upperends of fins 20 are rounded, as illustrated at 48, so that a cup-likefrusto-conical distributor dome may be placed over fins 4D and held inposition by fitting into slots 45.

As shown in the drawings the dome 56 may be of a round andfrusto-conical shape to present a smoother impact surface, but it may beany suitable shape. Adapted to rest on the curved outer portion 5| ofthe distributor dome 56 is a suction bell 52 which is secured to pipe 26and is provided with a plurality of legs 53 and intermediate openings 54so that the suction on the slime water and other disposable materialsinside the amalgamating chamber will be equally distributed around itsperiphery.

Suitably connected to pipe 34 is the feed pipe 55. This pipe, isprovided preferably with a reducer T at 55a so that a water supply pipe56 may be connected thereto and controlled as by valve 51. Thedownwardly directed portion of the T 5511 is provided with a nipple at58 which in turn connects a check valve 59 and the suction pipe 60.Suction pipe 60 extends substantially to the bottom of the pulpcollecting chamber 62. No means is shown for feeding the pulp intochamber 62 as it will be apparent any suitable supply means may beemployed to effect this deposit of material for treatment in thecircuit.

In Figure 11 I have shown a modification of the use of my device whichhas been found to be practical under certain conditions. This calls fora reversal of the operation of this device shown in Figure 1 with thematerial being delivered into the equipment through the pipe 64 and outthrough the hose 32a. The remainder of the parts are substantiallyidentical to my preferred form shown in Figure 1.

Method of operation In operating my device a quantity of mercury, Hg, orquicksilver is placed in the bottom of the collecting chamber risingsubstantially to the dashed line 66 as indicated in Figure 1 or 66a asindicated in Figure 11. It is to be assumed that the collecting tank I2is being fed with an adequate supply of finely divided mineral-bearingpulp or, in some instances, fine mineral-bearing sand. It is firstnecessary to start the syphon flow. This may be done in many differentways. A convenient method, where water pressure is available, is tointroduce water from pipe 56 through valve 51 so that as the waterpasses through T 55a it will be carried through pipe 55 and will fillthe recovery chamber up'to the dashed line indicated at 68 in Figure 1.This will compress the air in the upper portion of the recovery chamberand this air must be vented out through valve 24 so as to maintain thewater level at the point desired. A continuation of the water now willcause the water to rise in pipe 20 and ultimately to be discharged outthrough hose 32. When this occurs, a syphon cycle has been started andon the closing of valve 5'! material will thenbe drawn through pipe 60out of tank 62. For this cycle of operation it is necessary to have thecheck valve indicated at 59 so that the pressure of the water from pipe56 will not go down into pipe 60 during the period of initiating thesyphonic fiow. Another convenient method, if water ressure is notavailable, is to remove the cap 10 of the angle T 26 and by closing theend of hose 32 the system is filled with water and with the replacementof cap 16 the syphon cycle will then be started.

As the material flows through pipe 55, and through pipe 34, it isdischarged up and out ofthe end thereof and by means of the pluralityofbaflle fins tongues 44, Will be comminuted and divided into a number ofstreams. It will then drop downwardly and as new material is beingconstantly fed through the system, the material will ultimately beforced out around the lower end 12 of bell head or dome 50, through themercury where the gold and certain other of the precious metals will becollected into an amalgam, due to the natural affinity of mercury forthose metals. As all the pulp material, except the contained metals, islighter than the mercury, the pulp or residual slime water, sand, andthe like will be forced upwardly above the level 'of the mercury andthen be subjected to the suction through the discharge line consistingof pipes 20, 28, 30, and 32 where the refuse can be disposed of asdesired. It will be noted that this cycle of operation is a continuousone. This permits the relatively small unit to handle large 11 theequipment is identical excepting that the feed and discharge pipes arereversed. In this instance the material is fed in through pipe 64 andbell 52 discharges this material out through its plurality of openings54 and the material is drawn by suction through the mercury and thenrises within bell or dome B and is finally discharged out through thedischarge pipe 16 and ultimately out through the hose, or flexibletubing 32a. As before, the vent valve 24a is employed to control thewater level in the unit and the clean up is made through the deliveryvalve 14a.

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawings are believed toclearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will beunderstood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that suchchanges in the invention may be made as are fairly within the scope andspirit of the following claims:

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool,a bafiie associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom, a frustoconical distributor dome enclosingsaid bafile and said pipe end, and having walls depending into themercury pool, and slime-water removal means in the upper portion of saiddrum.

2. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool,a baflle associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom and having a plurality of radial fins, afrusto-conical distributor dome enclosing said bafiie and said pipe end,and having walls depending into the mercury pool, and slime-waterremoval means in the upper portion of said drum.

3. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a. pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool;a baflie associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom and comprising a plurality of radial fins,each such fin having a depending tongue fitted in the end of said pipe;3, frusto-conical distributor dome enclosing said baiile and said pipeend, and having walls depending into the mercury pool, and slimewaterremoval means in the upper portion of said drum.

4. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool;a baffle associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom and comprising a plurality of radial fins,each such fln being provided with a depending tongue fitted in the endof said pipe, and fin extension portions on the lower end; afrusto-conical distributor dome enclosing said bailie and said pipe end,and having walls depending into the mercury pool, and slime-waterremoval means in the upper portion of said drum.

a pool of mercury in its lower portion, anupwardly directed supply pipeto convey material to be treated to the drum and having its dischargeend above the mercury pool, a baflle associated with the discharge endof the supply pipe to part the fluid flowing therefrom, a frustoconicaldistributor dome enclosing said baflle and said pipe end, and havingwalls depending into the mercury pool, and slime-water removal means inthe upper portion of said drum, said means comprising a suction bellassociated with the upper face of the distributor head, and a dischargepipe line.

6. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool,a bafile associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom, a frustoconical distributor head enclosingsaid baflle and said pipe end, and having walls depending into themercury pool, and slime-water removal means in the upper portion of saiddrum, said means comprising a suction bell having a plurality of spacedapart depending legs resting upon said distributor dome and a dischargepipe line.

'7. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supp-1y pipe extending through thedrum bottom to convey material to be treated to the drum and having itsdischarge end above the mercury pool, a baflle associated with thedischarge end of the supply pipe to part the fluid flowing therefrom, afrusto-conical distributor dome enclosing said baffle and said pipe end,and having walls depending into the mercury pool, means to control theslime-water level in said drum, and suction means in the upper portionof said drum for removing said slime-water.

8. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool,a baflie associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom, a frustoconical distributor dome enclosingsaid bafiie and said pipe end, and having an inner rounded impactsurface and also having walls depending into the mercury pool, andslime-water removal means in the upper portion of said drum.

9. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool;a battle associated with the discharge end of the supply pipe to partthe fluid flowing therefrom and comprising a plurality of radial fins,each such fin having a depending tongue fitted in the end of said pipe;a frusto-conical distributor dome enclosing said bafiie and said pipeend, and having walls depending into the mercury pool, and slimewaterremoval means in the upper portion of said drum, said means comprising asuction bell associated with the upper face of the distributor dome, anda discharge pipe line.

10. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an upwardly directed supply pipe to convey material to betreated to the drum and having its discharge end above the mercury pool;a baffle associated with the discharge end of the supply 5. Anamalgamator comprising a drum having,

pipe to part the fluid flowing therefrom and comprising a plurality ofradial fins, each such fin having a depending tongue fitted in the endof said'pipe; a frusto-conical distributor dome enclosing said baffleand said pipe end, and having walls depending into the mercury pool, andslimewater removal means in the upper portion of said drum, said meanscomprising a suction bell having a plurality of spaced-apart dependinglegs resting upon said distributor dome and a discharge pipe line.

11. An amalgamator comprising a drum having a pool of mercury in itslower portion, an

